Austra Biography & News

Austra Details

About Austra

About Austra

Canada can claim its fair share of famous musicians, like Celine Dion, Shania Twain and Justin Bieber. But until 2009, they didn't have a band named for the Latvian goddess of light. That's where Toronto's Austra came along, featuring singer/keyboardist Katie Stelmanis, drummer Maya Postepski, and bassist Dorian Wolf.

There are probably things you don't know about this famous outfit, like the fact that Stelmanis is a classically trained vocalist and pianist who joined the Canadian Childrens Opera at age 10, but later fell in love with electronic, punk and industrial music. In 2008 she released a solo album ("Join Us"), was a member of the band Galaxy (with Postepski) and used it as a stepping stone to help form Austra when the group disbanded.

Once the ladies finally found their man, the three initially called their group "Private Life," but changed to Austra after discovering another band with the same name. Thus Austra's debut single, "The Beat and the Pulse," arrived in 2011, and their full-length album, "Feel It Break" followed. The project was not only shortlisted for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize (losing out to Arcade Fire), it was etched on several year-end critics' lists.

Austra's second album, "Olympia," was released on June 18, 2013. It was preceded by the first single, "Home," on March 7. That was followed by "Painful Like." The band toured in support of the project through 2013, and on January 30, 2014 they announced dates in Australia for February. It will include stops at the Adelaida Uni Bar, The Standard in Sydney, The Corner Hotel in Melbourne and the Perth International Arts Festival.